If you love fish, enjoy it while you can. Rising fuel prices are causing a shortage of fish in the market, and whatever is available is quite expensive. The rising cost of diesel has led to the docking of 70 percent of fishing boats in Veraval, Porbandar, and Okha ports. Unable to go deeper into the sea without enough fuel, fishermen have been bringing in 50 percent less catch than before. This has made fish dearer by 30 percent, said fishermen.
Fishing season begins in September and ends in June. During winters, the catch remains low. Fishermen make up for this during summers by getting 80 percent of the total catch of the season. On Tuesday, the price of diesel was Rs 99.43 per litre. This has hit fishermen at a time when they are already suffering from the steep price rise of essential commodities and the crippling impact of Covid-19 pandemic. “To get a good catch, we need to be at sea for 21 days at least. We used to spend around Rs 3 lakh just on diesel for such a trip. Now, we must shell out Rs 4 lakh just for fuel,” said local fishermen. While heading into deep sea to reel in bigger catch, fishermen must ensure they have enough ice, salt, oil, and other supplies since they must stay offshore for an extended period. “The net cost, including money spent on labour, has increased by 15-20 per cent making such trips unfeasible for us,” they added.
Tulsi Gohil, vice-president of Akhil Bhartiya Fishermen Association, said, “We have made a representation to the petroleum minister two times in the past two weeks, requesting the government to provide us diesel at a cheaper rate. We can’t afford to venture into the deep sea because the price we get from exporters does not leave us with a profitable margin. This is peak fishing season. If things continue the way they are now, it will create a shortage of fish for consumers.”
Meanwhile, exporters say that business is likely to go down by 30 percent this year. Gujarat’s yearly catch is around 6 lakh tonnes, of which 2 lakh tonnes are exported. Naresh Vanik, secretary of seafood association of Gujarat, said, “Increasing fuel cost has pushed up freight charges by about 30 percent. After paying these costs, we cannot afford to pay more to fishermen because it is a buyers’ market.”